Uzoaru who was arrested on Friday, January 22, was bailed on Saturday after his wife, Oluchi, paid N100,000 allegedly demanded by the policemen who were attached to the Security and Criminal Intelligence Bureau, Ikeja.
Our correspondent gathered that at about
10am on the Friday, Uzoaru entered a cybercafe on Bestford Avenue in
the Oke-Afa, Isolo area of the state, and the policemen, identified as
Mike, Austin and Chilaka, also walked into the centre and arrested him.
The policemen, who were reportedly not
in uniform, drove Uzoaru away in a commercial bus to the Ago-Okota
Police Division where they interrogated him over the laptop.
the
policemen thereafter allegedly asked Uzoaru to pay N250,000 to regain
his freedom, but when he could not raise the amount, he was detained
overnight.
Our correspondent learnt that on Saturday, Oluchi brought N100,000 which was given to Chilaka to secure the bail of her husband.
It was learnt that the police withheld
the laptop since the day of the incident, on the allegation that Uzoaru
had suspicious documents.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, the
business consultant, who said he wrote business proposals for
individuals and companies for a living, claimed that his wife borrowed
the N100,000 from her friends and relations, adding that she needed to
settle her creditors.
Uzoaru stated that the police had not
found anything incriminating so far in his laptop, saying he should be
given his tool to continue his work.
He said, “They were not in uniform when
they walked into the centre. They asked me to follow them to the bus,
and they drove off. I was wondering what my offence was. Then they asked
me what I did for a living.
“I told them if they were looking for Yahoo Yahoo boys
at the café, I was not one of them. I told them that I used my laptop
to write business proposals for individuals and companies. When we got
to the Ago-Okota division, they searched my computer, and they saw some
business documents and asked me questions about them.
“I answered them, but it seemed it was
not my explanation that they needed. When we got to the station, they
collected my phone, saying that I should not record the conversation. I
asked them what would happen, and they said if I wanted the matter
settled, I should bring N250,000.
“I told them that I did not have that
amount, so, they detained me. My offence was that I had some supposed
fraudulent documents on my laptop with which I defraud people.”
Our correspondent gathered that Uzoaru’s wife and her elder brother brought N100,000 on Saturday before he was released.
Gregory, Oluchi’s elder brother, who gave the money to the policemen,
said they pleaded that they would bring the remaining N150,000 before
Uzoaru was released.
He said, “I was the one who counted the
money and gave it to the policeman. The amount demanded was N250,000.
The policeman cannot deny that he collected N100,000 from me.”
A human
rights lawyer, Emeka Ugwuoye, had also petitioned the Inspector-General
of Police via the platform, stopthebribes.net, to investigate the
conduct of the three SCIB policemen.
His petition read partly, “After meeting
Kingsley and reviewing his story, I am convinced that the policemen
have acted unlawfully and illegally. I, therefore, placed a call from my
office to the police. I made it clear to them that they should either
charge Kingsley to court or release his computer and return the N100,000
they took from him. I gave them 24 hours to do so.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said no such incident was reported.
She said, “No such reported incident.
Meanwhile, the command requires the complainant to come forward with
evidence, if there is any, so as to give us a lead into the case.”
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